Discussions

[Jacob_Feld]

Hey all,

So I’m having a weird issue with my AV composite inputs on my Roku TV. The Tv is a Roku branded one, not TCL or anything like that. Basically when I recently went to use my device connected to it (which is currently a PlayStation 1) the screen stretches out the aspect ratio to make it wider than 4:3, which is something that never happened before; It used to be correct. An important thing to note is that the picture size is set to Direct and not stretched. Is there anyway I can fix it? Not earth shattering but would like to put it back to normal if I can! Thanks!

[JWS9518]

Check the display settings and see if it is set to automatic or not.  You might want to change that setting when using the PS1, which is pretty old technologically.  So, it may be misinterpreting the screen size by trying to upscale it.

[Jacob_Feld]

It’s not on auto either. is there another place to change display settings other than in the AV input itself?

[JWS9518]

I would look in the TV settings and see if there are display options in those settings somewhere.

[Jacob_Feld]

Can’t see anything for aspect ratio in my TV’s settings, only in the inputs settings.

[davidroz]

I am having the same problem with my Blu-ray player and my VCR connecting to my Roku TV. They are connected through the HDMI ports. Those devices both have a built-in 4:3 ratio, but my Roku TV is automatically stretching the image to fill the wide screen. When I select * > Picture Settings > Customize Picture > Picture Size,  none of the options will ‘squish’ it back to the preferred 4:3 ratio. (Not even ‘Auto’!) … every option stretches and fills the screen side-to-side. Any help/thoughts/workarounds?

[RobertaW]

I am having a similar issue using a component to hdmi converter to connect a Spectrum dvr to new 40" Roku brand tv. None of the picture settings fill out the screen properly. This method was used because when originally set up, the dvr's hdmi out seemed to be faulty so component cables were used with 2 prior dumb tvs with no problem. Don't know if my problem here is the converter or the tv, or how to determine which is the problem. However, this may be moot because I tried using the dvr's hdmi hdmi port and surprisingly it works. Maybe the original hdmi cable was faulty or the port is finicky and needs special care to seat properly.  Would like to resolve the converter issue to use a DVD player.

[davidroz]

I was able to correct the problem with my Blu-ray player. It took some digging, (and I had never had to make this adjustment before), but the Blu-ray does have an output ratio setting that I was able to alter. So all is good here with that. Re: the VCR: my VCR is old, and it’s a VCR/DVD recorder combo. So it is very complicated, and there are many settings, buried deep in its many menus. I periodically dig, but haven’t found a setting to fix my problem. But I’m holding onto hope! LOL And I also rarely-to-never watch my VHS tapes anyway.

[EddieSpuhghetti]

I noticed this issue since the latest update and tried customer service with both Roku and the TV manufacturer (TCL) > the latter told me that it was an update problem with my VCR and not the TV (I kept telling them that was impossible because it was made in the '80s). I tried using a different AV cable to no success. I even tried using an HDMI converter but still no success. I have never had this issue happen prior to the latest Roku OS update (I think was December 2024). My belief is it's something to do with how the TV is reading the image size.

There's two ways I've found that can "trick" the TV into sticking to 4:3 > if you are trying to use an old game console, plug it into a VCR and swap between the input and a channel (3, whatever). Keep flipping back and forth until the image stays to 4:3. It may take several tries, but it will eventually work (confirmed on an NES and N64)

For watching VHS tapes, I find rewinding / fast-forwarding (while in Play mode) can sometimes return the image back to 4:3 at random. I am really hoping this gets resolved in the next OS update because this is a feature that has rendered my TV partially useless (I have VHS, Betamax, Laserdisc that I like to watch on it but cannot anymore because of this).

[JWS9518]

The problem with old technology, like a VCR, is that it tends to not play nice with newer technology and even less so as that technology is updated.